Waiting for Something
by Donna8
Summary: One Shot - DG talks to Cain about missing things in her life. Not a DG/Cain romance - Sorry -Found this on my hard drive and wanted to post here since I hadn't posted in forever.


**Waiting for Something**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to TinMan. - Semi crossover with Tinman and Alice.**

Snowflakes swirled outside turning the air into a white kaleidoscope. DG's head rested on the cold surface of the window, but she wasn't seeing the picture before her. Instead she was focused on past memories of her life before the return to the OZ.

A bitter sweet smile graced her lips as she remembered Pops carrying in the fresh cut pine tree for Christmas. Mom always complained about the needles, but because DG had to have a "fresh-cut" tree, she always relented.

This year, just like every other year since her return to the OZ, DG would miss Christmas. Ahamo had explained that the citizens of the OZ didn't have a holiday like Christmas, and despite his attempts, the idea never really caught on.

At first everyone had really tried to help DG acclimate to her new, old world. Raw, Glitch, even the Queen had tried to adopt customs or sayings that would help DG feel more at home. But they soon returned to their normal and OZ acceptable way of doing things. Ahamo was her only link to her old life, but he hadn't lived on the Other Side in years, so he really wasn't any help.

It was funny. For so long she had felt like an outsider in Kansas, and now that she was home, she still felt like an outsider. DG couldn't understand it. Why could she not find her place in the world?

The trip to the Winter Palace was the Queen and Ahamo's latest attempt to cheer up their youngest daughter. Not that DG's depression was apparent to most. She covered her sadness with false gaiety and blinding smiles. It was Jeb Cain who finally informed the royal couple that their daughter was unhappy. DG huffed slightly at the memory. It took a relative stranger to see what her entire family and friends could not.

The door to DG's room opened quietly. She turned her head at the footfalls that made their way across the floor. Wyatt Cain pulled his hat from his head and sat unbidden on the window bench beside her. Neither said anything.

Finally DG turned from the window to look at her silent companion. "Does it ever get better? The sadness?" She asked.

Cain's lip curled slightly. "No."

She sighed. "I didn't think so."

Silence ghosted across the room. Again she broke the silence. "How do you cope?"

He laughed silently. "I don't. I still miss her. I always will. Some days, I just think I am one day closer to being with her forever."

"I wish I had loved like that."

"You will. Someone will come along, and 'BAM' you fall." Cain told her.

DG shook her head. "No. My one true love isn't here in the OZ. He is somewhere else. I just don't know where. This is very weird for me to say considering I am not sure I really believe all that stuff, but there it is."

"How do you know?" Cain queried.

"Dreams. I dream of a man with a hat. He makes me feel safe, loved, and cherished. At first, I thought it might have been you, but when we are together it never felt like more than friendship."

Cain blanched inwardly at the thought of DG falling in love with him. He knew that Adora would be his only love, but if somehow DG had fallen for him, he would have bottled up his feelings for Adora and made DG happy. It was the least he could do for the person who had brought him back to life.

He shook the thoughts away. "So how do you know he isn't on the Other Side? What do you see when you dream about him?"

"Strange things really. I can tell it is not anywhere on the Other Side, but somewhere like the OZ. I see a forest, a half destroyed city, and the strangest thing of all, a white rabbit's head. It doesn't make sense, but every time I think of those images, my heart beats a little bit faster, and I know that he is there waiting for me."

Cain rose to his feet and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Give it time. Stranger things happen on the time in the OZ. You came here through a travel storm. Maybe your mystery man could arrive the same way."

DG patted his hand and smiled slightly at him. "Maybe, or he could appear from a hole in the ground. Will I see you tomorrow?"

Cain settled his hat on his head and made his way to the door. He looked over his should. "Of course. We need to find this white rabbit of yours."

The palace rang with his laughter as a pillow came flying by his head.

DG smiled gently. No, she wasn't happy, but with Cain around, she just might one day get her happy ending after all.


End file.
